The works of man
Tree and Roots
It’s an ego thing. We build and we build and we build. This is the same for most humans whether we are building at a personal level or on a collective level. We build things in hopes of making our mark on the world and more importantly, in order to create a sense of important presence in the eyes of those who would then “see” us as being important. We need the affirmation of others in order to feel of worth.
I watch here in the Yucatan while wealthy foreigners build monstrous villas, their winter homes, beside the modest little casas and casitas of the Mexicans who are their neigbours. And these buildings which proclaim a sense of privilege and wealth to all sit for the most part, empty as their owners are busy with life in their home countries. For those few moments that they do find themselves here, they bring others to witness their superiority, their worthiness, their value. Yet, it is all to no end. For time has a way of leveling. Death will take the owners and nature will assert its right to be.
When I look at this image, I also sense that the tree is an inner self that refuses to be contained by the articial walls that we build to project our sense of self, an insecure self that will beg others for positive affirmation. Try as hard as one wants, cracks will appear in the facade, our insecurities will slip out as unconscious contents so that we aren’t even aware of the cracks. In the end, we wonder, “What the hell happened?”
